10th edition CIFF – 10-14 April 2024

El chata (The Sparring Partner) (2018 Feature Film) Nominee

Gustavo RAMOS PERALES | Puerto Rico | 2018 | color | DCP | 75′ | Spanish | e.s.

When his criminal past continues to tug at his sleeve and it proves difficult to build something new, Samuel has to choose. Can the talented boxer use his strength and ambition to make a new start? Impressive acting in this debut film from Puerto Rico. 

Determined to better his ways, 30-year old Samuel leaves prison after eight years. However, the talented boxer soon learns that his surroundings are much less forgiving than he had hoped and couldn’t care less about his plans for a new future. His former coach has a new generation of pupils and Samuel can only box as a sparring partner (chata) at the criminal Papillon’s underground boxing ring.

Director Gustavo Ramos Perales took the scintillating boxing scene of Puerto Rico as the point of departure for his debut drama about second chances and perseverance. The film is one of five nominees for the Yellow Robin Award. Convincing acting and action-packed fight scenes reveal that boxing seems to promise a better life for many Puerto Ricans, but even with great ambition and talent, there’s a constant pull to abandon the straight and narrow. Sometimes, boxing literally and metaphorically destroys more than you can handle.

Place: The Cinemas 6

Date: 12 April 2018

Time: 18:45

Duration: 0:57

Place: The Cinemas 6

Date: 13 April 2018

Time: 14:00

Duration: 0:57

Place: The Cinemas 6

Date: 15 April 2018

Time: 15:00

Duration: 0:57

Year in
Festival

2018

Director

Gustavo RAMOS PERALES

Camera

Willie Berríos

Cast

Alexon Duprey
Mariana Monclova
José Gael Valentín
Modesto Lacén
Camila Monclova
Carlos Miranda
Jerome Robles

Country

Puerto Rico

Editor

Juanjo Cid

Language

Spanish

Length

75′

Music

Eduardo Reyes Nápoles
Laura Rey

Producer

Gustavo Ramos
Annabelle Mullen
Carmen Díaz

Production Company

x

Production Design

Sebastián Claudio

Sales

x

Scenario

Gustavo Ramos Perales
Xenia Rivery

Sound Design

Margarita Aponte
Johannes Peters

Year of Production

2018

Website

http://www.elchatalapelicula.com/chata-the-movie/

Gustavo RAMOS PERALES

Gustavo RAMOS PERALES (1980, Puerto Rico) studied Humanities at the University of Puerto Rico and film direction and production at Digital Television Film School Septima Ars in Madrid. His experimental video proposal, Madrid, was selected to the Gijón Film Festival in Spain. Since returning to Puerto Rico, he has worked as a producer, editor and director for TV series, sports documentaries and commercials. In 2016, he won the Puerto Rico Film Commission´s national competition to produce and direct his first feature film El chata

 

Filmography

El chata (2018)